PDA

View Full Version : The Sealed Graveyard- A Survival Challenge!



ondonaflash
2009-10-16, 02:52 AM
This is a campaign/adventure I've thought about running, its very straightforward and very simple. For it to be played there are a few things that have to be accepted.

One round is six seconds.

One Minute is ten rounds.

One hour is 600 rounds

the night time can be assumed to last about 6 hours.

6 hours is 3600 rounds.

The premise is simple: "You were told not to enter the graveyard at night, you were told that whatever treasures lie withing simply weren't worth the effort. You were told to leave now and never return. You ignored the warnings, and now you're trapped. It will be six long hours until the sun comes up, can you survive?"

And after that its just undead. Wave after wave of undead. With experiences earned for each individual kill. (Eschewing the standard rule where xp is divided by party members, each individual gets full xp for each kill). Players may be any class, any race, and any number. They start at level one, and they start by fighting skeletons, and weak zombies. (It works with 4e as minions.), and as they level the encounters scale accordingly.

The challenge is straight endurance, and it should be assumed that mortalities will be high.

Thoughts?

Mongoose87
2009-10-16, 02:57 AM
Could be good, could get monotonous. Could be boring for the spellcaster by the end of the night, when he runs out of spells.

Kurald Galain
2009-10-16, 03:30 AM
...so are you looking for builds that could plausibly survive this? Or are you going to actually play this and looking for DM advice? Or something else?

lvl 1 sharnian
2009-10-16, 06:32 AM
Sounds like a good idea, Ive thought about doing this before. However, you might not want any spellcasters unless their a dedicated Necromancer

Pharaoh's Fist
2009-10-16, 07:08 AM
Warlocks and Dragonfire Adepts.

Kesnit
2009-10-16, 07:22 AM
Could be good, could get monotonous. Could be boring for the spellcaster by the end of the night, when he runs out of spells.

You could rule that every time they level, spells are refilled. Or every X rounds, where X increases in some way with level.

kestrel404
2009-10-16, 07:26 AM
Hmm, I'd say a party should include:
A warlock. Absolutely. Possibly more than one. At least one should attempt to get into the Repentant warlock prestige class ASAP, so that they can generate at-will healing.
A paladin - on the condition that their lay-of-hands abilities refresh at level-gain. Otherwise, not really worth it.
A dragon shaman. Absolutely vital for their fast-healing aura. Even if their lay-of-hands does not refresh, they're a good choice.
Any class from ToB. Crusaders are probably the best choice, but the others are also quite good at this sort of thing. Perhaps count 'level gain' as a new encounter and allow maneuvers to be swapped/refreshed at that point.
Any class that can manage unlimited healing.
Also ranger, if they focus on one of the spell-less undead-slaying prestige classes.

Dixieboy
2009-10-16, 07:31 AM
One cleric is all that is neccasary, that is if you can persist "Hide from undead".

Kurald Galain
2009-10-16, 08:15 AM
One cleric is all that is neccasary, that is if you can persist "Hide from undead".

Or one wizard, who can cast Rope Trick and pull up the rope afterwards. Problem solved. But I assume that the OP wants something slightly less anticlimatic than that.

CarpeGuitarrem
2009-10-16, 08:23 AM
Which edition? You seem to indicate using 4E minion rules, so is this 3.5 with houserules? In 4E, wizards running out of spells isn't an issue, because they'll always have some.

kestrel404
2009-10-16, 09:16 AM
Or one wizard, who can cast Rope Trick and pull up the rope afterwards. Problem solved. But I assume that the OP wants something slightly less anticlimatic than that.

Even with precocious apprentice, a level 1 wizard casting Rope trick will only keep you safe for an hour.

However, a rogue who maxes out UMD and rolls well for starting gold (or pools with another party member) can buy a CL6 Rope Trick scroll for 150g. That would work.

JeenLeen
2009-10-16, 09:24 AM
One cleric is all that is neccasary, that is if you can persist "Hide from undead".

This would only work until sentient undead (Will negates, IIRC) start showing up, but it should give a few hours safety. But then you have sentient undead with the past few hours' waves of undead.

Same problem with Lichloved from BoVD. Although, honestly, maybe with that one you could kill mindless undead and they wouldn't fight back, at least as a group.

For flavour and challenge, I would recommend banning necromantic and cleric-type classes. Adds to the horror feel, I think, and limits complete bypassing of everything by turning.
I'd also have a lot of elements of hiding and tactics, instead of just waves of enemies. Do you go into the mausoleum in the middle of the graveyard to hide, but risk fighting whatever dwells within?

OMG PONIES
2009-10-16, 10:14 AM
Rope Trick will keep you safe, but the point is the sweet l00tz. Warlocks and Dragonfire Adepts are good for infinite ammo if you actually want to fight through the undead, but one cleric/rogue could probably turn/hide from the majority of the baddies in there, sweep the treasures into a Handy Haversack or Bag of Holding, and be at home sleeping on gold in two hours' time.

Zovc
2009-10-16, 10:27 AM
So, how do the zombies restock? Do more come at each interval (x rounds, etc), or to they "respawn" when killed? If the latter, it's practically a good idea to hack off the current enemies' legs and wait.

Dragon Elite
2009-10-16, 10:31 AM
Is it 3.5?
It it here, Post by post?

Kalirren
2009-10-16, 10:52 AM
Yeah, which edition? A party of 4E laser clerics would probably work just fine in 4E. Plenty of damage, decent stamina, plenty of healing. You'd have to worry about healing surges though.

If we're talking 3.5, though, things could get hard, especially if you ban the anti-undead classes (of course, who would go -into- the graveyard besides the anti-undead classes who thought they stood a chance in the first place? So I wouldn't ban them...) This an interesting challenge, mostly because most builds are based around a different encounter system and reward novaing on major tactical threats instead of stamina. For instance, builds based on Ranger would be interesting, because you could potentially do a lot of mook-slaying with favored enemy, bane weapons, etc.

Classic casters would probably fail through lack of stamina unless there were some method of refreshing slots. You only -get- so many spell slots otherwise.

A cleric would run out of turning attempts if they needed to use them; an evil cleric with strong enough rebuke might be able to subdue a young vampire and get that template real quick, but that's about all I can think of.

I'd probably run with a party of 4 consisting of a ranger, a cleric, a warlock, and a dragon shaman just to see how far I could get.

Of course, one could use an army of 1000 novice clerics, saturate the spawn rate of the graveyard, have no one level, and come out quite unscathed at the end of the 6 hours.

OMG PONIES
2009-10-16, 11:12 AM
So what about a party consisting of the following:

1. A properly thieving rogue with either the feat that allows partial SA damage against undead or a wand of Gravestrike (or whatever the spell is that allows SA against undead).

2. An evil cleric with as much rebuking as possible (Extra Turning, Reliquary Holy Symbol, Nightsticks) as well as Quicken Turning

3. A warlock for ranged damage against undead that isn't piercing, with as many ways of boosting Eldritch Blast damage as possible (Hellfire Warlock, that one rod that boosts it) for targeting any big baddies.

4. A Dragonfire Adept for breath weaponing mooks (maybe with some metabreath feats) as well as auras.

Your rogue conducts the proper treasure hunt (assisted by your warlock where necessary) while your cleric commands some of the baddies to fight for you and your Dragonfire Adept mops up the little guys on your trail and provides some basic support to the party. The cleric could also rebuke the undead you don't have time to deal with.

ondonaflash
2009-10-16, 04:04 PM
As for edition, its wide open, it could be played in most major D&D editions (thought it might get shudderingly hard the earlier you go). As for what I'm specifically looking for: Advice, input, opinions. The tip that you fully refresh at level up makes sense, or maybe something Diablo esque, where you collect orbs, or something that refreshes your character.

I like the idea of enemies that go down in a hit, because there's going to be a lot of them, and if they all survive to make an attack it will be a very short challenge.

I don't feel the need to ban any clerics because they can only turn (in 3.5), a set HD of undead, and they can only do so at so many intervals, and from what I've got in mind, there will be more undead in the campaign than they can turn.

A few issues I might run into. Assuming that there is nearly constant fighting, the PCs won't have much time to go around collecting loot, or memorizing new spells.

I think the idea of Mausoleums, and Tombs, and possibly even crypts and catacombs has merit, of course, the undead will be pursuing you, and trying to bash through doors, also the monsters inside my be stronger, or sentient, but that's where the magic weapons and armor are.

Also, I don't think I'm going to scale the loot. I'm just going to place gear of varying strengths around the graveyard, and if they happen to stumble across the +3 disrupting holy greatsword (hypothetically), first, then more power to them.

jiriku
2009-10-16, 09:14 PM
Also, I don't think I'm going to scale the loot. I'm just going to place gear of varying strengths around the graveyard, and if they happen to stumble across the +3 disrupting holy greatsword (hypothetically), first, then more power to them.

Random loot is always fun. However, if you assume one encounter's worth of undead can be slain in 10 rounds (generous), and if the attacks are continuous, then the characters are going to be approximately level 27 by dawn. Which means if you seed the zone with full WBL for all those levels, it's a +10 disrupting holy greatsword you're going to stumble across.

Myrmex
2009-10-16, 09:36 PM
DMM cleric would pwn. Persistent fast healing ftw.

Tavar
2009-10-16, 09:58 PM
Really, Crusaders would do really well in this. I'd probably go for 2 crusaders, one skill class, and one dragonfire adept. The adept does control/mass damage, the crusaders focus on healing and defending, and the skill dude does skills.

One thing, have some choke points, and make sure that while the first couple rounds it always works in the Players favor, but as the undead get smarter/tougher, have them use it as well.

ondonaflash
2009-10-16, 10:13 PM
Okay, now what about a final encounter? In the last, say, 10 minutes of the night (60 rounds) something big and nasty should show up. It will probably be the source of the treasure that will bring the party up to level appropriate wealth. (I guess level 27? Assuming they survive, I mean resurrection probably won't be happening in this adventure, because none of them will be a high enough level to start with it, have time to memorize, or very likely, and opportunity to cast it)

I have this idea that he should be unkillable, and that the goal should be to survive the sixty rounds he's in play. Like the final rush in any timed mission in an RTS. Maybe there's away to render him unstoppable for a set period of time?

Doc Roc
2009-10-16, 10:16 PM
The core issue is two-fold:
Combat is slow.
Awarding points by kill is.... a good way to bone half the party. That said, if you run it, I'll be happy to throw down. Been a while since anyone proposed anything that I felt might be a fun challenge.

Flickerdart
2009-10-16, 10:19 PM
Dread Necromancers would obliterate this, no? Just run in there with an undead army of your own, when your guys fall then control some of the enemy. It's a graveyard, so animating the stuff in the dirt is fair game. Tomb Tainted Soul means infinite healing, too, and then the spells come into play.
60 rounds is too long. I'd say 10 rounds is good for a boss creature, 20 tops.

Tavar
2009-10-16, 10:19 PM
The core issue is two-fold:
Combat is slow.
Awarding points by kill is.... a good way to bone half the party. That said, if you run it, I'll be happy to throw down. Been a while since anyone proposed anything that I felt might be a fun challenge.

A good way to do this would be to let the players know about it before hand. That way, you don't end up with casters who are useless most of the game.

Myrmex
2009-10-16, 10:23 PM
What level do you enter at?
Any level under 6, and I don't think you can do it. Anything too low that lags behind in the killing will then suck for the rest of the game, and then everyone will get overrun.

I like the idea of tracking individual xp, though.

ondonaflash
2009-10-16, 10:24 PM
Okay, sounds good, I'll set up the play by post over on myth-weavers. Anyone interested can sign up here. Also, feel free to discuss, advise and opinionate. I'll draw up maps, and "bury" loot. I should have it up and running by either sunday, or monday.

Rules for character creation are: You are level 1.

Standard Point Buy.

Standard Starting Wealth.

**Edit**And we'll do it 3.5, just to give you guys the chance to use those builds that are usually overpowered**

Myrmex
2009-10-16, 10:26 PM
I'm going to enter with a Warlock.

When you say standard PB, you mean 25 points?

Tavar
2009-10-16, 10:27 PM
Possibly interested. But I'm not sure about the level...
Level 1 is really too random for something like this.

i'll make a crusader, if it's allowed.

ondonaflash
2009-10-16, 10:29 PM
I'm going to enter with a Warlock.

When you say standard PB, you mean 25 points?

Yes, Standard Point Buy is 25.

ocdscale
2009-10-16, 10:38 PM
With experiences earned for each individual kill. (Eschewing the standard rule where xp is divided by party members, each individual gets full xp for each kill). Players may be any class, any race, and any number. They start at level one, and they start by fighting skeletons, and weak zombies. (It works with 4e as minions.), and as they level the encounters scale accordingly.

If one player is 17, and the others are 9, 7, and 3. What level are the encounters?
Isn't the first person with the ability to kill two monsters at a time guaranteed to have his XP snowball upwards as he levels faster and then kills undead even faster than he did before?
Doesn't this punish teamwork?

Myrmex
2009-10-16, 10:42 PM
Is a dragonwrought desert kobold ok? Too cheesy?


Doesn't this punish teamwork?

No; it punishes teams that don't work together & party members that can't do anything.

Tavar
2009-10-16, 11:00 PM
My only concern would be if we just gave Xp to the person how drops the undead: there are situations where that could get bad. But as long as it's relative to your contribution, it's okay.

You know, Dragon Shaman could be good at this as well: free healing up to half, plus elemental damage when you're hit.

ondonaflash
2009-10-16, 11:10 PM
Is a dragonwrought desert kobold ok? Too cheesy?



No; it punishes teams that don't work together & party members that can't do anything.

I don't have that sourcebook, but if you have to ask...

Dhavaer
2009-10-16, 11:11 PM
I might sign up with a dread necromancer.

Edit: How do spells and turn/rebuke attempts refresh?

Tavar
2009-10-16, 11:18 PM
Did you see my post on the last page; to repost, I'm wondering if Crusader(ToB) or Dragon Shaman(PHB2) would be okay.

Forevernade
2009-10-16, 11:19 PM
Sounds like a lot of fun, something like Titan Quest when dungeon bashing. SO MANY MONSTERS.

You could do a resident evil style thing, where they all start in different locations and have to find each other.

You could have it more than just a sandbox, add a plot so that there is a source from which the zombies are coming from, and if they can defeat it before daylight then the graveyard's curse will be lifted, otherwise all the zombies they killed that night will simply be stitched back together and respawned.

I like the idea of random loot, maybe you could have them constantly rolling perception checks, and you have things 'hidden' like in the old rpgs, so that every now and then they might find a sword swallowed by a tree stump, or a stash of gold underneath a tombstone head.

Because it is a single sealed area, I like to think of it as a mini-game. Maybe you could give 'perks' or 'trophies' like in other mini-games.
For example in fallout 2 you could get reward perks like 'Gravedigger', 'Sexpert' and 'Gecko-skinning'.

Have some fun NPCs, which help them acheive these trophies.

Salty Bob: This old codger is a salty old ghoul with a straw hat who likes to go fishing in the graveyard pond. He seems the friendly type (CG) and will help the PCs with directions around the Graveyard. His memory isn't too great, though, so he won't remember the PCs for more than one encounter before wanting to introduce himself again. If asked about helping the PCs out, he will give them each an apple. The apples are in fact salts mushed into the shape and painted the of apples. Zombies want to eat them, so can be used as a distraction or lure.

The Everlasting Monk: In a chamber 3 floors below a crypt there is a high level monk who has been forced into an everlasting combat with an endless number of zombies. In the middle of the chamber is a small fountain, from which, if drunk from, gives the feat Epic Endurance: never have to sleep again, immune to fatigue or exhaustion. If they manage to rescue the monk, the monk will thank them, give them a vial of the fountain water, then comically walk into a high level trap and be killed.

Salty Bob's brother, Gardener Rob: Rob is found tending to a small garden of daisies. He offers one of the NPCs a Bonsai Tree of Goodberries, which once per hour creates 1d4 Goodberries, but only if placed upon the user's head. If placed on someones head the roots bore into the user's skull and become part of the person, but can be removed after a successful Remove Curse, and then Heal check DC15. The Bonsai Tree is called Betty.

Beetle Infested Goop: in a tricky part of a crypt you could if a PC falls into some goop by failing an acrobatics check have them receive the Beetle Infested Flaw.

For you this would translate into perks called like:

Gravedigger
Appleslinger
Enduring Savior
Treehead
Stuntman: if the character does something cinematic and entertaining he now receives 50% less damage from falling
Beetle Infested


I am sure there are some more ideas floating around.

Have fun!

Doc Roc
2009-10-16, 11:23 PM
Link to the myth-weavers?

ondonaflash
2009-10-16, 11:41 PM
Did you see my post on the last page; to repost, I'm wondering if Crusader(ToB) or Dragon Shaman(PHB2) would be okay.

In response, I will link you to this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVsD0rltRr8)video. Its a good video, it has Patti LaPone.


I might sign up with a dread necromancer.

Edit: How do spells and turn/rebuke attempts refresh?

Dunno yet. When you level up at least, maybe there will be shrines or something. This may be something I add during the course of the game.


Link to the myth-weavers?

The adventure isn't set up yet, but this (http://www.myth-weavers.com/index.php)is the website.

Myrmex
2009-10-17, 12:43 AM
I don't have that sourcebook, but if you have to ask...

It changes the kobold's type to dragon, which means among other things, he doesn't suffer aging penalties.

The real cheese is taking epic feats or using loredrake to get +2 free sorc levels. I'm taking it, though, for +3 to all mental stats and immunity to paralysis (**** ghouls).

At early levels, I plan on sticking to the ceiling and using my +13 hide bonus to stay out of harms way.

evil-frosty
2009-10-17, 12:56 AM
I havent seen anyone mention it but a ranger would work rather well here in my opinion. You know your only facing undead so you can put All your extra Favored enemy into Undead. Then with good feat choices and stuff like that he would hold his part up as most undead are just hunks of hitpoints with a few having some special abilities.

ondonaflash
2009-10-17, 01:13 AM
It changes the kobold's type to dragon, which means among other things, he doesn't suffer aging penalties.

The real cheese is taking epic feats or using loredrake to get +2 free sorc levels. I'm taking it, though, for +3 to all mental stats and immunity to paralysis (**** ghouls).

At early levels, I plan on sticking to the ceiling and using my +13 hide bonus to stay out of harms way.

But if XP is given out through individual kills, how will you level up?

Myrmex
2009-10-17, 01:34 AM
But if XP is given out through individual kills, how will you level up?

The average human warrior skeleton has around 6 HP, which should be only a few eldritch blasts. As long as the party is equitable (ie, no kill stealing, sharing of kills, etc), I should keep up reasonably well.

At least until I can bind Naberius and go into Hellfire Warlock.

Myrmex
2009-10-17, 04:36 AM
Would it be mostly mindless zombies and corporeal undead (chain fighter ftw!), or the ghostly things with high DC fear auras and what not that you need some sort of magic just to avoid fleeing from, let alone hit?

I'm guessing it's going to go from commoner skeletons all the way up to liches & nightshades.


And I'd recommend to anyone playing that you have a real good road map for your characters ahead of time, perhaps even saving multiple versions of the character sheet at various levels before even starting the game, as things would go rather slowly if it came to a complete stop every time someone had to level their guy.

I'm willing to bet anyone who signs up has everything carefully mapped out to level 20, and because this looks like it's going to be pbp, game time really isn't an issue. 6000+ rounds of pbp combat is absurd.

ondonaflash
2009-10-17, 05:59 AM
I'm willing to bet anyone who signs up has everything carefully mapped out to level 20, and because this looks like it's going to be pbp, game time really isn't an issue. 6000+ rounds of pbp combat is absurd.

Hey! Only 3600 thousand! (Point of fact though, I don't think we'll ever get that far. Assuming we go at 10 rounds a day, it would take us a year to finish this module. Which of course, is no reason not to play, just something to keep in mind.)

Thurbane
2009-10-17, 06:46 PM
Warlocks and Dragonfire Adepts.
And Binders. :smallsmile:

Flickerdart
2009-10-17, 06:57 PM
And Binders. :smallsmile:
Binder needs 10 minutes to re-bind a vestige. Warlocks and DFAs have no downtime at all.

JellyPooga
2009-10-17, 08:05 PM
I can't help but think that a Warforged of some description would do well at this. Immunity to many of the negative states that the undead inflict would give a Warforged a significant advantage.

Similarly, a Necropolitan or other undead character would do well by virtue of those same immunities.

Tavar
2009-10-18, 12:52 AM
You know, unless the rules for readying spells/manuevers/soulmelds/etc are changed, all of them are pretty usless(or, well, Adaptive style becomes a required feat for ToB classes.)

Myrmex
2009-10-18, 02:25 AM
I can't help but think that a Warforged of some description would do well at this. Immunity to many of the negative states that the undead inflict would give a Warforged a significant advantage.

Similarly, a Necropolitan or other undead character would do well by virtue of those same immunities.

You can't start at level one with a necropolitan, can you?

Roc Ness
2009-10-18, 02:55 AM
Can I play? If I can, can I play a Paladin who dresses like the reaper? :smallbiggrin:

It would be cool to play a dark hooded guy with a scythe who screams "DEATH WILL SLAY WITH WINGS THOSE WHO ESCAPE THE IMMORTAL REALMS"

Thurbane
2009-10-18, 03:45 AM
Binder needs 10 minutes to re-bind a vestige. Warlocks and DFAs have no downtime at all.
Most vestige granted abilities can be used every 4 rounds - less with the right feats. Also, AFAIK, they are the only class who can get unlimited healing/day.

Mordokai
2009-10-18, 04:10 AM
I would be insterested in playing, but there is a problem. This looks like it needs carefully choosen builds, preplaned all the way to level 20 and beyond. I have not the knowledge to create such characters :smallsmile: I usually go with a concept and evolve it as the campaign moves on. I don't think this would work well in a game like this one.

That said, if anybody is willing to lend me a hand with this I'd most certainly be happy to play. I'm thinking warforged ranger, going into prestige class that's capable of hurting undeads. Probably something from CD or CW and with favoured enemy, undead, all the way. So, if anybody feels like helping with feat selection and similar, PM me and we can talk it further.

If not, be kind and post link to myth weavers once the campaign goes up. I'd be interested in seeing how this turns out, because I find the concept very intriguing :smallbiggrin:

Myrmex
2009-10-18, 04:24 AM
Most vestige granted abilities can be used every 4 rounds - less with the right feats. Also, AFAIK, they are the only class who can get unlimited healing/day.

With a Dread Necro in the party, if we all take the Tomb-Tainted Soul feat, we get unlimited healing through Charnel Touch.

Crusaders also get a non-finite amount of healing.

JellyPooga
2009-10-18, 04:34 AM
You can't start at level one with a necropolitan, can you?

No you can't...I didn't think of that. Minimum level for Necropolitan is Lvl.2 (by aquiring the template at Lvl.3). There's no reason you couldn't play a Monster Class Undead (like Ghoul or Vampire Spawn) from Lvl.1 though.

ondonaflash
2009-10-18, 03:03 PM
Can I play? If I can, can I play a Paladin who dresses like the reaper? :smallbiggrin:

It would be cool to play a dark hooded guy with a scythe who screams "DEATH WILL SLAY WITH WINGS THOSE WHO ESCAPE THE IMMORTAL REALMS"

I like it. In response to your question I say why the hell not! Watch The Video!
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVsD0rltRr8)

The site should be set up by Monday evening. A combination of RL affairs has kept me from committing my energy towards setting it up, but it shouldn't take too long once I set myself to it. I'll link it here when its done. At this time I'm thinking 7 or 8 players, I don't want to get bogged down. But if we get a lot of applicants I might just split you into two groups and run them separately.

Dragon Elite
2009-10-18, 03:36 PM
I want to play a warlock!
Are undead objects or alive?

tyckspoon
2009-10-18, 03:46 PM
I want to play a warlock!
Are undead objects or alive?

Neither; they're dead creatures. They can't be targeted by things that only affect objects (no Shatter) or things that require living targets. Like normal living beings, they do become objects when you kill (er.. destroy) them.

Dragon Elite
2009-10-18, 03:49 PM
I was wondering if I could use Baleful utterance for extra cheese.
MY character will be up soon (2-3 hours)

Thurbane
2009-10-18, 05:12 PM
What about a Cleric with maxxed out turning, Disciple of the Sun, and a whole bunch of Night Sticks?

Myrmex
2009-10-18, 05:39 PM
What about a Cleric with maxxed out turning, Disciple of the Sun, and a whole bunch of Night Sticks?

If you're going to abuse nightsticks, go DMM: persist. Between vigor and a bunch of sweet buffs, you'll last forever.

But good luck getting a bunch of nightsticks as random loot. And lasting that long, starting from level 1.

Rebuking undead could be useful, though.

Thurbane
2009-10-18, 07:07 PM
If you're going to abuse nightsticks, go DMM: persist. Between vigor and a bunch of sweet buffs, you'll last forever.

But good luck getting a bunch of nightsticks as random loot. And lasting that long, starting from level 1.

Rebuking undead could be useful, though.
Oh, I missed the whole level one dealie.

The Deej
2009-10-18, 10:32 PM
This looks awesome. If you don't mind, I'd like to steal this idea and run a similar game on a PbP board my friends and I use.

Dragon Elite
2009-10-18, 10:34 PM
Actually, nevermind my character. I'll be busy for a while.

ShneekeyTheLost
2009-10-18, 10:49 PM
I second the thought that a Warlock, Dragonfire Adept, Crusader, and Cleric would be an awesome combo for this run.

Personally, I'd try to start out with a Spiked Chain, and go rapidly into Gatling Tripper, hoping and praying for a way to get Ghost Touch on it as soon as possible.

Tavar
2009-10-18, 11:05 PM
Ooo... another thing: is there going to be a way to quickly change armors? Otherwise it's going to really suck when we have to stop for 8 minutes while the tanks switch into and out of armor.

Tyndmyr
2009-10-18, 11:22 PM
Yknow, a warforged with two flaws, resulting in the heavy armor feat and an additional two feats pumped into boosting DR might not be bad.

After all, DR4/adamantine should be sufficient to avoid most damage at first level, in conjunction with the quite high AC. If you toss on fighter, you can also pump your bonus feats into boosting the DR, with a possible one feat dropped along the way to make yourself immune to crits and sneak attack.

The rate at which you take damage should be slow enough for random loot to provide you with healing, and more importantly, you make a nasty barrier for the squishier types to hide behind.

Now, it won't be skeletons and zombies forever, so that won't be the only type of build you'll want, but one of those should be fine for holding the line.

Edit: Oh yeah, since his armor is built in, upgrading it consists merely of selecting a feat, no need to change clothes.

Draz74
2009-10-18, 11:33 PM
Crusader and Dragonfire Adept are definitely the "win" classes here, with an honorable mention to Warlocks, Dragon Shamans, and Warblades.

Clerics with interesting Reserve Feats, Swordsages with Adaptive Style, Swift Hunters with maximum Favored Enemy (undead), and Rogues with Penetrating Strike and lots of flanking help (Wild Cohort?) are also viable ideas.

ondonaflash
2009-10-19, 12:13 AM
Hmmm, the armor conundrum is most disconcerting. Maybe you'll have some free time if you seal yourself in a crypt or something like that. It might buy you a few minutes to yourself.

Myrmex
2009-10-19, 12:19 AM
Yknow, a warforged with two flaws, resulting in the heavy armor feat and an additional two feats pumped into boosting DR might not be bad.

After all, DR4/adamantine should be sufficient to avoid most damage at first level, in conjunction with the quite high AC. If you toss on fighter, you can also pump your bonus feats into boosting the DR, with a possible one feat dropped along the way to make yourself immune to crits and sneak attack.

The rate at which you take damage should be slow enough for random loot to provide you with healing, and more importantly, you make a nasty barrier for the squishier types to hide behind.

Now, it won't be skeletons and zombies forever, so that won't be the only type of build you'll want, but one of those should be fine for holding the line.

Edit: Oh yeah, since his armor is built in, upgrading it consists merely of selecting a feat, no need to change clothes.

Ooh, good call on Warforged.
I think warforged with a couple levels of fighter going into crusader would be awesome. Fighter2/crusader18, since bonus feats would be crucial early on. I'd get adamantine armor, spiked chain, and trip.

Warforged are eligible for Tomb-Tainted Soul, too.

Roc Ness
2009-10-19, 12:20 AM
I like it. In response to your question I say why the hell not! Watch The Video!
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVsD0rltRr8)

Yay! My guy's probably going to take the feat that lets Ranger and Pally levels stack for stuff.

I can't wait to start screaming stuff at mindless dead things that don't care. :smallwink:

ShneekeyTheLost
2009-10-19, 12:21 AM
So, Warforged Fighter/Crusader with Adamantine Body, Stone Power, the stance that heals him two points every time he hits something (and since it isn't a Conjuration (Healing) effect, it's full effect), and maybe some Tripping thrown in for good measure. Immunity to Crits/Sneak Attacks really isn't worth it here, as few Undead rely on these sorts of tactics. Immunity to Death/Negative Energy/level drain effects will be MUCH more important.

Roc Ness
2009-10-19, 03:37 AM
Okay, I've virtually finished my character except for miscellaneous items.

Also, I'm quite sure there isn't anything in the paladin code about not being a bit cracked. :smallbiggrin:

(I promise not to smite allies)

ondonaflash
2009-10-19, 09:32 AM
Okay, for story: The reason there are unlimited undead in an endless graveyard that lasts until morning is because the fenced in graveyard planeshifts onto the Elemental Plane of Shadows at night.

Eurus
2009-10-19, 11:08 AM
I'm in with a Druid. Probably human, rely on my animal companion and a bow for the first few levels, then start on the good old face-tearing-off. Taking Vow of Poverty is extraordinarily tempting, given the circumstances... not only having to make due with whatever we find, but also being able to let the other characters take the loot instead, since we can't exactly donate it to charity. :smallwink:

I was tempted to try a Truenamer, assuming that the Law of Resistance would reset with every level up... but somehow, I doubt he'd kill enough zombies to actually level up. :smallsigh:

Glimbur
2009-10-19, 11:15 AM
Has anyone considered a bard built towards Inspire Courage?

Problems include: can't cast spells like Inspirational Boost because you can't know it at level 1, can't be sure you'll find the loot you want to increase Inspire Courage, and the question of how you actually kill things. For the last I suggest using your longsword proficiency, you won't actually need Cha because you won't get useful spells anyway.

The main benefit would be the boost to hit and damage for everyone, +4ish should be doable by 6th level when you can be swinging base +2, +1 from Song of the Heart, and doubled via Words of Creation, which would be a pain to qualify for.

On balance, I don't see it as being worth doing due to low PB, random loot, and nearly no spells.

ondonaflash
2009-10-19, 01:23 PM
And Philadelphia we are live! (http://www.myth-weavers.com/game.php?g=5524). All of you who want in, apply for the campaign, and have a level 1 character sheet posted, please and thanks.

Mordokai
2009-10-19, 01:46 PM
Bring on the popcorn, it's starting! :smallbiggrin:

*pops in chair, starts munching on the chips*

And don't forget the beer!

Eurus
2009-10-19, 01:56 PM
So, I'm not quite certain; if you have the Natural Bond feat, your effective druid level for your animal companion is considered to be three higher, to a maximum of your character level. This can be used to negate the effective druid level penalty from a more powerful companion, I know that much. But can it be used to allow a level 1 druid to take a companion that would otherwise be restricted to a druid of 4th level or higher and reduce your effective druid level by 3?

Roc Ness
2009-10-20, 12:50 AM
My char has been added. I called him Blackadder, because Rowan Atkinson is funny and because the name is sorta unexpected yet normal for a Paladin